Chapter 103: Are You Trying to Become His Mistress? [Seeking First Subscription]

“Better hurry back. Your father must have already known you’re here with me.” Su Jian recalled how Li Lingguang had glanced deliberately toward his house before leaving.

It was unlikely to be a mere coincidence; he must have discovered Li Ling’er’s presence.

Li Ling’er’s features were fraught with anxiety.

Her father had warned her repeatedly to keep away from Su Jian.

“You villain, I’m heading back now,” Li Ling’er said hurriedly, unwilling to linger. She left in haste, barely having time to ponder how Li Lingguang had found her here.

...

“Ling’er, where did you go today?” Li Lingguang called out as Li Ling’er tried to sneak back to her room.

Li Ling’er forced a smile, attempting a feeble excuse. “Father, why are you asking this all of a sudden? I often take strolls; you know that.”

Li Lingguang abruptly asked, “Are you trying to be his mistress?”

Li Ling’er blushed deeply. “Father, what nonsense are you talking about?”

She immediately realized the implication, a flush coloring her delicate face.

Li Lingguang sighed deeply, his emotions complex, about to say more.

But Li Ling’er had already slipped back into her room, burying her head in the quilt and tossing about on the bed several times, barely suppressing her embarrassment.

Father is talking nonsense. How could she possibly fancy that villain?

Besides... he was a married man.

...

Su Jian hesitated briefly, then began assigning a mission to Jianxian, who should still be near Lingxiu Village.

[Lingxiu Village has recently welcomed a male and a female immortal cultivator. Use the pretext that the Bai family estate harbors a cultivation opportunity and lure either the male cultivator Yu Ming or the female cultivator Shen Qing’er into the Bai estate.

Mission details: Claim your own power is weak and you cannot seize the opportunity alone. Then assert that the Bai family was targeted because of this opportunity. Your main purpose is to befriend this cultivator, and secondarily just to share some benefits.

Upon arrival at the Bai estate, find an opportunity to use a paralysis talisman on them. Failure will result in revival. Players must exert utmost effort.]

[Mission rewards: One paralysis talisman, five Huangjing pills.]

[Mission penalty: Three-legged lameness.]

Su Jian did not hold high hopes for Jianxian.

Both Shen Qing’er and Yu Ming were at the Nascent Soul stage.

Given Jianxian’s cultivation level, even if Yu Ming or Shen Qing’er were unguarded, successfully deploying a paralysis talisman would be a tough feat.

But trying cost nothing; at worst, he’d lose a thousand spiritual energy points reviving Jianxian.

...

Perhaps there might be an unexpected gain.

His current plan was to defeat them one by one, otherwise he would never find a chance to strike. Whichever he attacked first, the other would instantly react.

With no chance for a one-on-one confrontation, he would create one himself.

[Spiritual Armor: A product of a level-five civilization, made of a light, soft material, worn like nothing. It can resist cultivators’ spell damage until its energy is exhausted but cannot block attacks on the soul.]

[Unlock for 50,000 spiritual energy points?]

The price to unlock such artifacts was always linked to their true value.

If all went well, the spiritual armor should withstand attacks from cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage.

The spiritual armor and the counterattack technique were a perfect match.

Since acquiring the counterattack technique, Su Jian had intended to unlock the spiritual armor.

He must be extra cautious when dealing with Shen Qing’er and Yu Ming.

In the next moment, a transparent spiritual armor appeared in his hand.

The physical sensation was even more extraordinary than the dog system’s description.

The armor was clear as glass, as thin as a veil, softer than a maiden’s skin, with a coolness brushing his fingers.

Its material was irrelevant now.

What mattered was its effectiveness.

“If I want to know the spiritual armor’s power, I just need to test it on someone...” Su Jian stroked his chin, an idea forming instantly.

He then assigned a mission to Cui Wenzi.

[Test the spiritual armor’s defense. This will be your future power source; you must understand its limits. Use all your strength to strike it repeatedly to determine the maximum damage it can endure.]

[Mission rewards: Two sets of spiritual armor.]

[Mission penalty: Complete loss of body hair.]

Cui Wenzi was the perfect candidate.

However, with ten days nearly passed, there was still no sign of action.

The Demon Emperor was no fool; this was why Su Jian gave Cui Wenzi an extra piece of spiritual armor.

Providing additional protection was only prudent.

After a while, mission updates from Cui Wenzi arrived.

[Cui Wenzi, at late Nascent Soul stage, struck the spiritual armor with full force repeatedly. The once clear armor became murky and on the verge of collapse. He struck once more, shattering the armor entirely.]

“The spiritual armor can withstand several strikes from a late Nascent Soul cultivator; it might even resist attacks from an early Void Return stage cultivator,” Su Jian’s expression eased somewhat.

This was within his expectations.

However...

Cui Wenzi was a terrestrial immortal from his realm, roughly equal to late Nascent Soul.

Su Jian felt a bit disappointed but not overly so.

He had simply set his hopes too high for Cui Wenzi.

But it made sense; Cui Wenzi’s realm was in the End Law Era, where even Golden Core stage methods qualified as terrestrial immortals, let alone late Nascent Soul.

Merely unlocking the spiritual armor was not enough. Killing Shen Qing’er and Yu Ming had never been his ultimate goal.

Only controlling them and stabilizing the Humane Academy was his true desire.

[Human Puppet Pill: Consists of two pills, primary and secondary. Taking the primary pill causes total loss of consciousness, generating a new consciousness controlled by the taker of the secondary pill. Ineffective against those with perfected souls.]

[Unlock for 40,000 spiritual energy points?]

Though painful, Su Jian unlocked it.

His plan was to control Shen Qing’er and Yu Ming, maintaining contact with the Humane Academy.

This way, he could hold the initiative, rather than passively suffer their threats.

If the plan failed, he would leave Lingxiu Village decisively.

Even if the mission was then deemed a failure, the lost rewards would be insignificant to him.

[Current remaining spiritual energy: 89,455.]

“This spiritual energy just doesn’t last...” Su Jian sighed softly.

At the same time he completed these preparations, Jianxian finally arrived.

He politely knocked on Shen Qing’er’s courtyard door.

Yu Ming opened. Seeing Jianxian’s ugly face, he wanted to kick him away.

But recalling Shen Qing’er’s warnings, he restrained his impulse.

“What do you want?”

He naturally noticed Jianxian’s Qi Refining stage cultivation, which to him was no more than an insignificant ant.